November 29, 1934 – November 2, 2009
A resident of Hong Kong, Duncan passed away peacefully at Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital after a courageous 3 year battle with cancer. Duncan was born in Nanjing, China and studied in Queen's College in Hong Kong. He graduated from Imperial College in the United Kingdom. He held an engineering credential and was a successful chartered engineer. He managed the design and construction of air conditioning and swimming pools for many prominent Hong Kong buildings after he came back to Hong Kong and opened up Eastman Engineer Ltd. with his twin brother in 1969. In his early years, Duncan loved 3-meter springboard diving, winning many medals as school champion. His range of talents and interests were many, including dancing, playing the violin, and singing. Being blessed with a wonderful voice, Duncan was known by many of his friends as the "man with the voice." In his later years, his passion for singing led him to enter a competition where he took the gold with his rendition of Elvis Presley's "It's Now or Never." In retirement, Duncan focused his energy on the heroism of his father, the late Admiral Chan Chak. Duncan was the driving force in establishing HERO (Hong Kong Re-enactment Organisation), which was founded to re-enact the brave escape of British Officers out of Hong Kong, masterminded by his father when Hong Kong fell to the Japanese in 1941. Sadly, Duncan will miss this event, which will take place in December of this year. Through it all, Duncan touched the lives of many people with his smile and generosity while maintaining his trademark sense of humor. Duncan was the eldest son of twelve children of the late Admiral Chan Chak. He will forever be remembered by his wife Lily, devoted twin brother Donald, loving sisters Paula, Diana, Anita, Julia, Lina, Anna and Mabel, beloved children Sharon, Andrew, and Aaron, treasured grandchildren Justin, Shelby, Leah and Colby, caring in-laws Jason Chiu and Katherine, along with countless other friends and family who were blessed to know him.